Fountain pen



Aug. 15, 1950 T. B. GIBBS FOUNTAIN PEN Filed May 1, 1946 flllllllllll'llllllllll INVENTOR THOMAS B. GIBBS iatenteci Aug.

UNITED ES ''IT OFFICE ma as- Thomas GihbQ-Del'avan, a'ss'i-giior to TheGeorge-W; Borg flcorporation, IGhi'ca'go, 111., a corporation ofDelaware ioii 1 Si I -6 6 8 The present invention relates in general tofountain pens and more in particularto fountain pens of the ball pointtype. The object pf' the-i-nyen-tidn is a newjand improyed pen' of thischaracter which is highly effieient, durable, and. inexpensive tomanufacture. V a v The various features of the invention will bedescribed in detail in the ensuing specification, with reference to theaccompanying drawing, in w i h 7 p I V Fig. 1 is a crosssection of acomplete fountain pen embodying the invention 2 isa side View of theball retainer liig. 3 is an end View of the ink cartridge;

Fig. 4- is a section through the ink cartridge on theline4,Fig.1; H I vV i Fig. 5 is a cross-section throggh the tip of the ball retainer onthe line 5-'-5, Fig. 6;- and I I Fig. 6 is anend View of the ballretainer with thebal-l removed. a a

The parts are shown on a scale of 2 to l in Fig. 1. In Fig. 2 the scaleis 10 to ;1, in Figs. 3 and 4 the scale is 4 to 1, and in Figs; 5 and 6the scale is 4:0 to 1. v 7

Referring to Fig.1, the barrel It, the housing H and the cap 12 may bemolddof suitable plastic material and are shaped as shown in thedrawing. The housing I is threaded into'the barrel It; the metal ring'isbeing clamped between the end'of ,the'ba'rrel and a shoulder on thehousing. The cap E2 has a close fit on the housing H and may be pressedon as far as the ring I 3, where it is normally held by friction. Thecap i'spi ovided with a clip [4,whi'ch is secured to the end of the capby means of the spherical headed screw I5 andithenutjif.

The. reference character I] indicates thev ball retainer, which iscarried in the housing H. lrhe ball retainer has a press fit inthehousing, which it projects as shown in'Fig. 1, an; H c ably" hasaknurled por'ti'on'at the ri ght ha d'ei d which makes for a secureconnection between the parts and eliminates any danger of thetangetainer rotating'in the housing.

Theba'll retainer may'be,, maehine'd from 1 variety of brass rod,although it' c'ould'be made of stainless steel or other suitablematerial. It

comprises a cylindrical section and a conical tip 16 Claims. (01.12042.4)

This is 2 is the axis of the conical tip and the dotted line 21) is" theaxis of the cylindrical section. Due to the angular and ofiset' locationof the conical tip with respect to" the cylindrical section, the junc-5" sonar-these parts, or the ase f the conical tip, substantial-1ydefines a plane which Ina-lies an acute angle with the axis of thecylindrical sec-'- tion, In' the pen'shcwn, this angle is about 45degrees. [The end of the housing II is cut off or 10 formed with thesame angle, so that when the ball retainer is assembled in the housingonly the conical tip isexposed. V

The described co nstructionojf the ball retainer oifrcomes anobjectionto prior ball pointed pens,

hati toheheldin a fairly upright position inorder to insure contactbetween the ball and theflpape r. Qur improved pen maybe held in thenatural position, at a considerable angle to a paper, sameias iscustomary with an ordirfm ne pe i'l Ifhe bpr s jtand ,22', shown indotted linesiin are c'o-axial with the cylindrical section fehallretaiherand the former is threaded to V I receive the inkcartridge. I The bore or in];

25 ehannsli? i pelx t e conical i i and term a s i a b ll se ingore esswh h w l be it di x nne t nir ih F -Medial 34 this isht rla sri d m thattliehall H3, and a tapered wall 25 which connects wi the in nar ed 2.3The. b l 18 heath r h ti g ainst e taper d wa .11 6 is r .1: he reces brl 25 9 Id1lced ameter atthe end of wall 24', produced by a spin 35 ningoperation. o

Di'e 2511 int r ected b a lu li y o rad a St has z hwmpn tren s chan l ft wofin p st the h arin The e s als 40 a; el 28 which intersectsthe lip25, which pm. ed to ins re ampl ink. f ed .c tneup stroke of the pen; Inexplanation of this, it. ay best dithat hehall o ates -anaunter- 4 w e.dire'ctiQnasseen 5,. onflthe roke t with the upper .p'artfof V the onthep iieniwiththe t thelip V s scrape .the'inkofi the ut ii te i 1 h thresular n f ed otherwise beprodhced. h rotation .of $1 ll i' bd iiiii ei byih fihe l resg n ihs ani i' thel qwr side isrqeir'ed; biecause erthe slight clearance between the ball and the lip 28. The ball engagesthe upper part of the lip on the down stroke as 5 well as on the upstroke.

The ink cartridge comprises a tube 30, which may be made of brass orother suitable material which is wet by the ink, and two small tubes 3|and 32 made of similar material. The tube 30 is flattened throughout itslength as can be seen from Figs. 3 and 4, and is reduced in size at theends to receive the tubes 3! and 32, which may be secured in place bysoldering. The small tube 3! is threaded at the end for connection withthe ball retainer l'l.

These ink cartridges may be sold separately as a replacement item,filled with ink and with the ends closed by suitable plugs or caps. Whenthe cartridge supplied with the pen becomes exhausted of ink the barrelI is unscrewed from the housing ll, exposing the ink cartridge, which isremoved by unscrewing it from the ball retainer H. The cap at thethreaded end of a new cartridge is then removed and the cartridge isscrewed into the ball retainer, after which the cap or plug can beremoved from the other end of the cartridge. The operation is completedby screwing the barrel ID on to the housing I I.

If the pen with the replacement ink cartridge should fail to write orshould stop writing after a short period, the trouble will be due to anair bubble in the ball retainer, and is easily cured by blowing throughthe vent at the end of the barrel, which forces out the air past theball l8. It will be noted in this connection that due to the provisionof the groove 28 in the lip 26 at the tip of the ball retainer the ballcannot act as a valve to prevent the escape of the air.

The operation of the pen will be readily understood from the foregoing,and will require no extended description. When the pen is in use forwriting, the ball 18 rotates in its seat, as mentioned hereinbefore, andcontinuously transfers ink from the ink channel 23 to the paper or othermaterial which is being written upon. As the ink is removed from channel23 it is supplied from the ink cartridge due to atmospheric pressureacting through tube 32, which keeps channel 23 and the space around theball in its recess full until the ink becomes exhausted.

' When the pen is carried in the pocket, with the point uppermost, or islaid on its side, the ink does not run back into the cartridge but dueto capillary action it is retained and the ink channels remain full,ready to resume writing at any time.

The invention having been described that which is believed to be new andfor which the protection of Letters Patent is desired will be pointedout in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a fountain pen, a metallic tip having a ball retaining recesstherein, a ball in said recess, a lip of reduced diameter at the outerend of said recess to prevent escape of the ball, and a grooveintersecting said lip at a point where the lip is engaged by the ballwhen the pen is in writing position.

2. In a fountain pen, a tubular barrel having the writing end formed tolie in a plane which is substantially parallel to the writing surfacewhen the pen is held in an inclined writing position, a ball retainercomprising a cylindrical section enclosed in said barrel and asubstantially conical section projecting therefrom along an axisinclined to the longitudinal axis of said cylindrical section, the baseof said conical section being disposed substantially in said plane, acircular ball retaining lip at the smaller end of said conical section,said lip defining a plane to which the axis of the conical section isperpendicular, a ball seat formed in said conical section, a writeingball retained in said seat by said lip, and intersecting ink channels insaid sections for conveying inkto said ball.

3. In a ball point fountain pen, a ball retainer comprising acylindrical metal body, a substantially conical tip formed at one end ofsaid body, the central axis of said conical tip being inclined to thelongitudinal axis of said body at an angle of about 8 degrees, acircular ball retaining lip at the end of said tip, said lip defining aplane to which the axis of said tip is perpendicular, a recess behindsaid lip having a seat for a ball, a writing ball retained in saidrecess by said lip, said ball being laterally offset from thelongitudinal axis of said body, and ink channels extending through saidbody and tip to convey ink to said ball.

4. A fountain pen as claimed in claim 3, wherein the location of theconical tip along its axis is such that its longest slant height isbelow the ball when the pen is in writing position and is not less than50% longer than its shortest slant height.

5. In a ball point fountain pen, a ball retainer comprising a straightsection of metallic rod, an ink channel extending from one end of saidrod to a point near the other end, a symmetrically tapering tip formedfrom said rod at the said other end thereof on an axis which is inclinedto the longitudinal axis of said rod by a small angle, an ink channel insaid tip drilled along the axis thereof to meet said first mentioned inkchannel, a ball inclosing recess formed at the end of said tip andterminating in a circular lip of uniform thickness defining a plane towhich the axis of the tip is perpendicular, and a ball in said recessretained therein by said lip.

6. A fountain pen as claimed in claim 5, comprising a pen barrelenclosing the ball retainer except for the tapered tip formed at the endthereof, the said tip projecting from said barrel, and the end of thebarrel being formed to make an angle with the body thereof which issubstantially the same as the angle between the junction of the tip androd and the body of the rod.

THOMAS E. GIBBS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 555,763 Fessenden Mar. 3, 18961,409,037 Starkey et a1. Mar. 7, 1922 1,514,519 Harris Nov. 4, 19241,964,512 Halpern June 26, 1934 2,390,636 Biro Dec. 11, 1945 2,397,229Biro Mar. 26, 1946 2,416,896 Biro Mar. 4, 1947 2,417,861 Dahlberg Mar.25, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 3,136 Great Britain Mar. 1,1888 of 1888 800,851 France 1936

